


Guardian Encounter

by dis_cat_ded



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Crack, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:42:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23993971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dis_cat_ded/pseuds/dis_cat_ded
Summary: The boys find a new Link, what will they do
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be a short one-shot. It was also supposed to be crack. But apparently I can write anything short or crack so this is what happened.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys meet a new Link. He's so different it's like a punch to the face. Also, he has a small problem.

The group had just stepped through the portal. Nothing seemed amiss- this was just Wild's Hyrule.

Except something _was_ amiss.  
The castle was... different. The Great Plateau wasn't where it was supposed to be, and was instead where the Great Hyrule Forest should be, and vice versa. Like they had been swapped.

It also looked like a huge battle had recently taken place. Yet, the whole place seemed more populated. A town was visible in the distance.

Wild seemed the most perplexed.  
"This... I'm pretty sure this is my Hyrule, but..."

He slowly spun around, taking everything in.  
"This is... weird."  
Time nodded. "We should probably head to Castle Town. My guess is that we've ended up in a period of time separate from your journey. Maybe before the Calamity."  
"Yeah, but... that wouldn't explain why the Great Plateau is switched with the Great Hyrule Forest."  
Time shrugged. "We'll find that out soon enough."

Wild nodded and looked around some more. He noticed another peculiar thing- the hole in Hebra Mountain was smaller and looked less like a dent. It was also a _hole,_ meaning it looked like something had gone through the mountain instead of simply grazing the side. In fact, it seemed like it had just recently been made.

They began to walk towards the castle, but without warning, Wild froze.

There were guardians. And they were absolutely _everywhere._

"Holy shit," he breathed. "Holy fucking _shit._ "

This was more guardians than he had ever seen. Even more than in the memories.

"Wild? You good?"  
"Yeah, there's just... so many guardians..." He laughed a little and shook his head.

This new version of his Hyrule was a little unsettling. He recognized his surroundings well enough that he ought to have that feeling of familiarity, but he didn't. The feeling was absent.

When they got to Castle Town, he was even more put off. Everything about it was different. The buildings were different, the layout was different, the people were different. There were more people.

Hell, the people _looked_ different. Shorter.  
And... there were Sheikah. A lot of them. They were everywhere.  
And they weren't wearing the traditional garb. Instead, they were something more akin to a stealth suit.

A few of them- these Sheikah looked more military-esque- were talking to someone with flaming red hair.

Wild's first thought was that it was a girl. But when "she" turned, it was clear that this was a male. But he didn't look like a Hylian.

His facial structure was different. His nose was different. His eyes were different. Everything was different.  
And he had what looked like war paint on. And Sheikah tech. Lots of it. It was an odd combination.

He also had a sword.  
As soon as Sky spotted it, he let out a shout. Several people looked his way and made comments.

The language was different, too. Well, it was still Hylian, but it was different.

The red-headed man walked up to them and spoke.  
"Wutchall doon her?"  
"Excuse me, what?"  
He looked a little annoyed now. "Ah seyd, wutchall doon her? An hoor yooll? Yu don looc ly anyoon A sen behfo."

They all just looked at him, confused. Finally, Sky pointed at the sword.

"You have the Master Sword."  
"Ah wut? De mas-tur sord? Nah, tis is de forst sord."  
"Forced sword?"  
"Nah, de for-ist sord. From da forst. Yu an iydyot?"  
"She's called the Master Sword."  
"Mastur sord, forst sord, sem difrence. Now wutchall doon her?"  
"Uhm..."

This time, Twi spoke up. "We're here to find Link."  
"Ah. Wel, yv fund'm. Am Lynk."  
"Great! Can we talk to you in private?"  
He looked back at the two Sheikah he had been talking to, then at Twilight. He nodded. "Yes."

That was the most coherent and understandable thing he had said so far. In fact, it was one if the only things he'd said that made any sense at all. Clearly.

Nobody saw the the glare the Sheikah gave him as he walked away.

Eventually, they found an out of the way spot to talk.  
Link- or, Lynk, as he said it- opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, staring at Wild's waist.

Finally, he said, "Tatsa Sheyka slayt. Werdyu gettaht?"  
Wild took the Sheikah slate off his belt. "This? I got it in the Shrine of Ressurection- what?"  
"Deh Sryn-o-Ressekton. Yu gottit ter. Taht's noh wer et eys. A havit. Rih heah."

He pulled an identical Sheikah slate out of seemingly nowhere.  
"Yos mus' bea fak."  
Wild shook his head and went to use it, but Twi stopped him. "Wait," he whispered. "This is a bit suspicious."  
"A herd taht. Yu no was' susptus? Yool'r. Telmeh wyur heah. An hoo yu ahr. C'mon, telmeh."

Time stepped forward. "I'm Time. We're here to find you, because, well, we're all also Links. From different eras."  
Link narrowed his eyes.

He took a single step forward, reaching his hand out. He put it on Time's shoulder, needing to reach upwards. He was a lot shorter than Time. Around Wild's height.

He closed his eyes.  
Teal magic snaked it's way up his arm to his hand. The paint or tattoos or whatever they were began glowing from under the Sheikah armor. It hovered around Time's shoulder, them was absorbed into it.

Link nodded and opened his eyes, stepping away.  
"A trus' yu. A sens taht yoolr gu' pepl. Don' mak meh ctanj ma myn."  
Time nodded.

Link reached around to his back. There were some clicking sounds, then the armor around his torso fell to the ground, revealing scars and more tattoos. They looked almost tribal.  
He also wore something that barely counted as clothes.

"Euch. Taht feyls betr."

Wild narrowed his eyes a little, then gasped. "That's the barbarian armor!"  
Link glared at him incredulously. " _Bahbryan?_ De Zonai ah far froom bahbryc."  
"Zonai..." Wild muttered. "I feel like I should know what that is..."  
"Yu don' no hoo de Zonai ah? Yu ah stangeh tahn I touht."

Link took a pair of golden metal gloves off and dropped them on the chestplate. He ran his hands through his hair, fluffing it up.

It was then that Twilight noticed another thing about his face.  
The paint- or tattoos, it still wasn't clear- was the same as the marks on Time's face.  
Twi glanced at Time, then back at the new Link. Yep. Definitely the same.

"Hey, Time?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you know who the Zonai are?"  
Time shook his head. "Nope. Never heard of them."  
"Oh." Then, quieter, Twi said, "I noticed the markings on his face are the same as yours."  
Time's eye widened a little. "You... you're right. Hm."

Link seemed to notice this, too. Or maybe he was talking about something else. It was hard to tell. "Wut, yu don lih muh tatus... holey fikan shite. Yuv gut da saym ones."  
"Uh, yes."  
"Huh. And yu du not no de Zonai?"  
Time shook his head.  
"Tehn wer ar yur tatus froum?"  
Time grunted and shrugged, avoiding eye contact with Link.  
"Wat ar tehy fur, tehn?"  
Time shrugged again.  
"Ar tehy not tu icrees fyersnes?"  
Time stiffened a little. "Fierceness? You... you could say that, yes."

Link looked Time over for a moment more, than shrugged and turned back to Wild.  
"So yur froom de footr? Watr de Zonai lyk in de footr? Howr meh pepl doon?"  
"Uh... what?"  
"De footr- o, wutevr. Dosnt matr. Wud yu lyk tu meyt ma famly?"  
"Oh! Sure! I'd love to-"

"Link! Oh, Link! Where are you- Oh! Tere you are!"

The blonde haired woman in a white dress came running over. She picked up the Sheikah armor and shoved it into Link's arms, saying, "Te Sheikah would like to see you."  
He sighed. "Es et abut de Slmbur of Stases?"  
She nodded. "Next time, do not run off like tat. Tey will get mad, and we do not want teh Sheikah to be mad. Who knows what tey will do?"

Link looked back at the group, then at the girl, then back at the group. "I ges I'll se yu latr, tehn." He turned to the girl again and nodded. "Undrstud, prinses."

Then, the two walked off. Link was looking down and dragging his feet, like there was something he wasn't looking forward to.  
It sounded like this "Slumber of Stasis" was what he dreaded.

\---

The next time they saw him was the next day at a bar. It was a bit odd to think that there were bars in a time like this, especially to Wild.

This was ten thousand years ago. Ten thousand years before his time.  
It was almost surreal to be here. No- it definitely was surreal. Almost more so than the memories.  
Because, well, it almost was a memory.

Was this what it was like for Twilight to be in Time's Hyrule? Maybe.

Wild's thoughts were interrupted when the door loudly flew open. Everyone stopped talking for a split second, then immediately resumed, this time louder.

"Holy shite! It's the champion!" "It's him! It's really him!"

The redhead at the door groaned and heavily walked over to the group. He plopped down on the stool next to Wild and mumbled something incoherent to the bartender.  
The bartender nodded and got him a drink, which he grabbed from his hand and chugged.

"Uh... is..." Wild hesitated for a moment, then tentatively continued. "Is everything okay?"  
"No."  
"What's wrong?"  
"Tohs fikan Seikeh wanu pumeh inda Slmbur of Stases. Tehy won lisin tu meh. A don wanu hafteh du taht. Hu nos hou lon Ad beh in deh?"

"Is the... is this "slumber of stasis" the Shrine of Resurrection?"  
Link nodded. "Tahts not wut ets actuly culld, bu A gess taht wuhks."  
"Well... if they want to put you in there, my guess is that you either be here for a hundred years or ten thousand years. Depends on why they wanna do that."  
"Ten touhsan yers!?" Link stood up, nearly knocking his empty glass over in the process. "Holey feck! Wuy... wuy wud tehy du taht?"

Wild looked down at his own drink and started swirling it around. "That's when the Calamity comes next." He sighed.  
"Way... ah... ah yu de necs hee-ro?"  
Wild nodded.  
"Hou'd yu get tohs scahs, tehn? Ih cudna been fro fitin de Calimati."  
Wild leaned forward, swirling the drink faster. It threatened to splash out of the glass, but it didn't. "I... I don't think you'd like it."  
"A luv heerin storehs of hou otehrs got teihr scahs! Tehy sow teh tru powr an curaj of ah wahriahr!" Link stood up, shaking his fist.

Wild smiled sadly and looked away. "These scars... only serve to paint me as a failure."  
Link looked down at him. "Wut... wut du yu meen by taht? Yu cannut beh a falyur wit scahs lyk taht."  
"No... I... well, I didn't didn't get the scars _from_ the Calamity, but rather, _because_ of the Calamity. We... well, in the future, we made a mistake. It resulted in... me..."

He sighed and put the glass down. "Y'know what... I'd rather not alter history by telling you too much. Who knows, things could turn out worse. There's a lot of cause and effect here, and it seems like a lot of the cause is happening right now. Or hasn't happened yet."

"Wut du yu meen?"  
"Well, first of all, the Sheikah are still here, and- shit. I probably shouldn't say anything about that."  
"About what?"  
"Hm. All I'm gonna say is that there's a group of assassins trying to kill me because of a bad decision on your king's part. But at least he wasn't as shitty as my king. Imagine forcing your daughter to do things that won't help anything. Imagine being so close-minded that you yell at her for doing what she loves. Imagine-" Wild broke off, realizing he was getting a bit loud. He sighed again. "I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, things didn't work out too well in the future, and you don't need to worry about it. We got it under control, and things are going better."

"Hm." Link grunted. "We havnt had et pehrfict eyter. Or, A havnt. Its lyk teh Seikeh don evn car abou wuts hapenin wit ma peple. Weyr dyin-"  
"Oh. Yeah... about that..."  
"Wut? Ah tehy... ah teh Zonai..."  
"Dead. Gone. The only reason I recognize the name Zonai is because of a place called "Zonai ruins" in Faron."

Link sat back down heavily. It looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Oh."  
"I'm... sorry. I probably shouldn't have said that, huh?"  
"No, no, it's fyn. It's fyn. A don... a don myn. It dosn matr. Its not lyk a can chahnj anuthin. So... hou du yu no abou de "Sryn of Ressekton," as yu cul it?"

"Ah. I... spent a century there. It... wasn't fun. Well, I don't exactly remember ehat happened in there, but I sure didn't like it." Wild shuddered. "I think it was... rearranging me or something. But I wasn't in there for the same reason you'd probably be. Seeing as how you're... talking to me right now."  
"Wut du yu meen?"  
Wild waved his hand a little. "It's in the name. Resurrection."  
"So yu wer... difeytd?"  
Wild nodded. "That's a nice way of saying it, yes."

Wild sighed and took a sip of his drink. He nearly spit it back out when someone behind him spoke.

"The Sheikah might want to put Link in the Shrine for experimental purposes."  
Time.

Link stood back up, now holding a full glass. How he suddenly had a refill was a mystery to Wild, since he hadn't seen him get any more.  
"Ekscuse meh, bu teh Seikeh ah respecabl, even if A don agre witem. Tehy wudnt du _*ekspermints*_ on ah * _prsun._ *"  
"Hm. Maybe not that you know of. But they've done that."  
"Ahm shr tehy wudn * _yus_ * meh. Not teh * _champyun._ *"

Wild coughed, still looking down at his drink. Time put a hand on his shoulder, still looking at Link.  
"Wild..."  
"I'm fine."

Wild stood up and walked away, leaving his half-full glass on the table.  
He went outside and leaned against the wall with a sigh. Of course the conversation would go there. Why would it not? * _How*_ would it not?

He sighed yet again and looked around, taking in his surroundings.  
This version Castle Town was pretty nice. It was entirely different than what it was like now, and from what it was like in his more recent memories.

First of all, everything was smaller. Second, the architecture was different. But to be fair, everything was different from Bolson's style.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  
He thought about Tarrey Town. The rebuilding efforts. Flora.

The door opened.  
"Yullrihy?"  
"Huh?" He looked over and saw Link.  
"Yullrihy?"  
"I'm sorry, what?"  
"Yu. Ull. Rihy?"  
"Oh. Uh... yeah, I'm good."  
"Noh yu arn. A cahn tell. Wus ron?"

Wild sighed and looked down. "Fine. It's just... this is so... different from what I'm used to. I mean, it's just so similar, yet everything is so much more... alive."  
"Did de Calimati damij yur lahnd?"  
"I... you could say that, yes."  
"Ah. Am... sohry abou taht. An if A oopsetchu."  
"Oh, no, it's fine. That's more of my fault. I tend to get... _nostalgic_ sometimes."  
"Nustolgic?"

Wild looked back up at Link. "Right. Fair warning for the Shrine of Resurrection... When you wake up, you might not remember anything."  
"A'd... loose mah memri? W-wy?"  
"I don't know. All I know us that I lost- I lost my- I don't remember- I- and they- and they're dead- and I didn't- couldn't do anything- terrible- fuck-"

Wild hunched over slightly, running one hand through his hair, the other arm wrapped around his body. His eyes were shut tight to prevent tears from falling, yet they still managed to fight their way out.

He felt a rough hand on his back. It wasn't gentle at all. Well, it didn't feel like it.

It felt almost as if his skin would break apart at the touch. As if his entire body would shatter if the hand was just a little more rough, as if the hand would scratch him like a diamond to glass if it moved, as if his spine would snap at the slightest touch.  
As if a single blast of golden magic could pull him down.

He crumpled to the ground, unable to hold himself up any longer. What was it about this Link, this champion, that hurt him so much? It pained him to look at the redhead. It pained him to see everything that was going on here, knowing that it would all be for naught. Knowing that a single decision would doom Hyrule. And he couldn't do anything about it.

He was afraid to try and change anything. What if it didn't work?  
Or worse, what if it _did_ work? What then? Would he have his family back? Or would he just create another timeline?

The hand on his back started moving in awkward circles, and he unsuccessfully bit back a gasp. It didn't actually hurt, but... the pain he felt was just so _real._ Why? Why did it hurt so much to have this Link touch him?

There was something there that felt almost familiar, but it hurt. It hurt like it was something he knew he wanted but could have. Something he _needed_ but could never reach. Something that he had lost long ago and could never get back. Something he could never find again. Except here.

He heard a soft voice. It had the same accent and sound as the champion's voice, yet it was much less jarring. Less rough.

"I's... i's ohkehy. A don rilleh no wut tu saih otehr tahn taht, but... A'm jus no' goo' at tihs. Soh... i's ohkehy."

Those words felt like needles pricking his back over and over again.

"An... A tihnk yu cahn get tru wutevr it is taht's goin on. A cahn tell yur stron in moar waes tahn wun."

And those words felt like knives stabbing him through the heart. As if an ancient arrow was piercing his skin. As if there was poison coursing through his veins.

And then he was in Twilight's arms. He could tell by the earthy, dog-like scent. The fuzzy cape.

He buried his face into the soft fur of the cape. He should feel comforted, yet the pain was still there. The fear was still there. The longing was still there. Everything was still there.

But it gradually went away. And eventually, he was okay. Or, better, at least. That was good enough.

\---

Wild seemed to be avoiding the new Link. He had been ever since the... _thing_ happened.

Twilight had taken notice of this. So he had made it his mission to comfort Wild. He sat down next to Wild, who was sitting on a bed. (They were in an inn)

Wild's head was drooped, and his eyed were closed. He seemed quite peaceful, though Twilight could tell he wasn't. He could tell there was a lot going on in Wild's head.

Still, Twilight said nothing. He just sat in silence.

Then, out of nowhere, Wild spoke.  
"Do you ever just... feel a weird connection to someone? Like you... like... like you know them, but you don't actually know them? Like you just met them, but it feels like you've known them for centuries."

The question caught Twilight a little off-guard.  
Yes, he was familiar with that feeling. But he said nothing.

He noted that the phrasing was a bit odd. If it was anyone else, it wouldn't have caught his attention, but this was Wild.  
_*"Like you've just met them, but feels like you've known them for centuries."*_  
Just met them? Known them for _*_ _centuries?*_

Was he talking about the new Link?

Twilight opened his mouth, then closed it. Better to stay silent.

"There's just something about that guy," Wild continued, "that I'm not sure if I do or don't like."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I... I'm not sure. It's just..." Wild sighed. "I don't know."

Twilight opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He went over to the door and opened it just a bit to see who it was.

Speak of Demise. It was the new Link. And he looked a little stressed. No, very stressed.

"Hlo. Cahn A cmin? Lahk, nou?"  
"Uh, yeah. Sure."  
Twilight opened the door wider and stepped to the side. Link ran in and slammed the door shut, breathing heavily.

"Is something wrong?"  
Link nodded, now leaning against the door. "Ye. Teh Seikeh, tehy wan meh tu gou intu teh Slumbr of Stases _*tuday.*_ Tehy won lemeh go houm an sey gby tu ma famli or _*anitihn.*_ "

It was then that Twilight noticed the tears threatening to fall from Link's eyes.  
He wasn't sure what to say. He had never been in a situation like this.

He glanced at Wild, then back at the new Link. What could he do? He didn't want to alter history or anything, bit he also wanted to help this Link.

Then Twilight realized something.  
The Sheikah were bound to be exiled soon. And if there were no Sheikah to take this Link out of the Shrine of Resurrection, he'd likely be forgotten. He'd be in there much longer than intended. Even if the Sheikah promised to wake him after a set amount of time, that wouldn't happen. He'd likely be in there for ten thousand years. And he wasn't mentioned in any of Wild's stories, except on the tapestry.

So he likely never went into this "Slumber of Stasis."  
That, or he hadn't been found yet, somehow. Maybe there was another room in the Shrine. Or another Shrine altogether.

Maybe he could ask Flora about it the next time they were in Wild's Hyrule.  
First, though, came the more pressing matter of _*what the hell was going on here.*_  
Why were the Sheikah doing this? What about this was so urgent that he had to be put in *today?* It wasn't like the Sheikah had a limited time to do this... oh. Right.

They were going to be exiled at some point. But they couldn't know that. Unless they could see into the future, which they probably couldn't do. Right?

Honestly, Twilight didn't know much about the Sheikah. For all he knew, they *could* see into the future. Hell, maybe that was why they were putting this Link into the Shrine of Resurrection. Or, as he called it, the Slumber of Stasis.

Still, that begged the question, why did they need to put him in today? Why not tomorrow? And why on such short notice? It wasn't like the exile would be tomorrow.  
Well... maybe...

But that was beside the point. What he needed to focus on was whether this Link was okay. He was clearly stressed and upset.

Link blinked and mumbled something to himself. He stood up straight, still leaning against the door.

Then, there was another knock on the door. He jumped, his breathing quickening once more.

"Twilight? Wild? Are you two in there?"  
Twilight smiled. "That's just Warriors. You don't need to worry."

Link nodded and stepped away from the door. Twilight opened it, and Warriors peered in.

"I see you have a visitor."  
Twilight nodded. "Yep. Link is hiding from the Sheikah because..."  
He looked to Link so he could finish explaining.

Link grunted a little. "A'm no' heyden, A'm jus avoyden tehm. A du no' lyk tehm an tehy du no' lyk meh."  
Warriors nodded. "Ah. So why are you avoiding them, exactly? It can't just be that... you don't like each other."  
"Tehy wan tu put meh in teh Slumbr of Stases tuday. Wit noh wahnin or anitihn."  
"Ah... so, why do they want to do that?"  
"A don' no."

There was a twinge of fear and panic in his voice. It was only barely noticeable, but it was there. In fact, Twilight might have been the only one who heard that.

"Hm. Well," Warriors said, "Wind was getting bored and Hyrule kept running off, so we're going to leave soon."  
"Oh!" Link looked up at Warriors, then at Twilight. "Cahn... cahn A cahm wit yu?"  
Twilight opened his mouth to speak, but Warriors beat him to it. "Sure, why not?"

Wild sighed. Twilight couldn't help but sympathize with him, even if it was for a different reason.  
Twilight was just hesitant to bring him along in case they switched. Important things were happening here, and if this Link suddenly disappeared, well... who knows what could happen?

Still, he said nothing. He couldn't exactly just deny him. He was running from the Sheikah so they wouldn't force him to do something he didn't want to do.

So, they let him follow them as they packed up their things and headed out of Castle Town.

It was still a bit disorienting for Wild, to walk around a Hyrule that was similar to his own, yet just different enough that it was unfamiliar. They reached a place where there should have been a road, bit there wasn't one. They ended up where a river would be, but it was just flat ground.

Link seemed awfully distracted the entire time. So distracted, in fact, that he nearly bumped right into a bokoblin.

It was quite a strange looking bokoblin, nothing like any that the others had seen. It was bigger, too. But it was definitely a bokoblin.

"Ach! Ah bohkohblyn. Fickin heill..."

He unsheathed his sword, ready to fight.  
It was surprisingly tough, even compared to the infected enemies that they usually encountered. Link and Wild seemed to have little problem with it, but everyone else started struggling as soon as more showed up. Ten people against one strong bokoblin is fine, but once they were 1 on 1, it got a lot harder.

Wild made quick work of his, spinning in circles while holding out a sword twice his size.  
The new Link also worked swiftly, stabbing his own opponent in the chest.

The two then turned to help everyone else.  
They soon reached the last one and were about to deliver the killing blow when it ran off.

"Taht's... od. Wy wud it du taht-"

Link was interrupted when something grabbed his arm.  
It was a bokoblin that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and it was pulling him away.

The others noticed this and went to help him, but they quickly disappeared in favor of a purple, swirly void.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite red-haired boy wants to know how his people are doing. He is severely disappointed.
> 
> Also Legend doesn't like the legends.

Next thing Link knew, he was in a completely different place than before. He didn't recognize any of his surroundings.

Well, he did, but it was strange. And different.

For instance, nothing was in the right place. There was Death Mountain, but it was too big and too far to the left. There was Hebra Mountain, but it was too short and the hole was wrong.

He could go on and on about the differences, but now was not the time.

Because right now, he was being dragged by a bokoblin.

He sighed. He  _ *would* _ fight the bokoblin, and he definitely could, but he kind of wanted to see where it was taking him.

Still, he put his foot down and yanked his arm out of its grasp. He pulled his sword out and stabbed it.

He quickly killed the damn thing and brushed himself off. Now. Where was he?

He didn't have much time to think about that, because someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir, but have you seen someone named Link?"

"Ye, taht's meh."

"Ah."

The person smiled. He did not like that smile.

Then, without warning, there was a sword and a sickle in front of him.

"Leave him alone."

He stumbled back, surprised. Why was... erm... Wild attacking this random stranger? And why was the stranger suddenly in a red suit?

"Freaking Yiga," Wild muttered once they disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.

He picked up the sickle and took out the Sheikah slate. He put the sickle into the slate and turned to Link.

"Don't tell anyone that you're Link. They're gonna try and kill you."

"Wy wud tehy du taht?"

Wild grunted. "Right. Hasn't happened yet. That's not important. What's important is that we're in my Hyrule now."

"O!"

That gave him an idea. This was the future, right? Ten thousand years in the future?

That meant he could see how his people were doi-

Oh.

Right.

The Zonai were gone now. Long gone.

He straightened his back. A warrior doesn't get upset over things he can't control. A warrior doesn't worry over stupid things like that.

Anyway, there was still a possibility that they were alive and well, and just in hiding.

It was unlikely, but still possible.

"So, uh... wut's lef of de Zonai?"

Wild thought for a moment, then said, "Well, there are a lot of things in Faron."

"O! Taht's wer A lyv!"

"Oh, nice. I can take you there. We just need to find everyone else first. You're lucky I found you before that guy could kill you."

Wild laughed and turned away. Link followed as they walked around.

"So, hou'd we get hyr?"

Wild shrugged. "Portal stuff, I dunno."

"Hm."

"Oh, there's Time. Hey! Time! I found him!"

Time turned to them and smiled. "Good."

"So did you see where everyone else went?"

"No. Wolfie could probably help, though."

As if on cue, a huge dark Wild ran over and skidded to a halt in front of Wild. Wild immediately pet its head, smiling.

"Aw, hey Wolfie!"

Link jumped a little. That thing was  _ *huge.* _ Even for a wolf. And it had very strange markings on its forehead. He didn't quite trust it, even if Wild and Time did.

"Erm... wut's taht?"

Wild looked at him incredulously. "A wolf, obviously."

"Ye, A no. But... wut typ uf woff? At syms awfly big. Fo, yno, ah woff."

"Hm. I never really thought of that. What are you, buddy?"

The wolf barked.

Wild laughed a little. "You'll have to tell me later, then."

Soon, they found everyone else. (Hyrule took a while to find. He seemed to have gotten quite lost.)

Then, at Link's request, they went to Faron.

Link was immediately quite disappointed.

All that was left was ruins. Broken remains of statues that had had so much love and perseverance put into them.

And that was it. No houses or buildings or anything. Just statues and pillars.

Then they got to where his house once stood.

He was unsuccessful in restraining himself from falling to the ground and searching through the dirt.

This couldn't be true, there  _ *had* _ to be something left. He was the hero, for Farosh's sake.

He yanked plants from the ground, threw rocks out of the way, shoved dirt to the side.

He did this all with surprising strength, not caring if he hurt himself. Not caring how difficult it was to dig so deep.

And eventually, he reached a stone.

He dug the surrounding area with increased vigor. Maybe there  _ *was* _ something left of his home. Maybe there was still hope.

All he found was a small statue of a boar and a lynel horn.

Then he realized he was crying. There were tears running down his face.

He wiped them away, smearing mud on his cheek.

This was the first figurine he ever made...

The details were sloppy, sure, and the proportions were off, yes, but the sentimental value...

And the fact that this was all that was left of him...

This couldn't be it. There had to be more, there had to be something else. Was there anything left of his mother? His father? His sister?

_ *Anything?* _

But no. This little statue and piece of a helmet was it.

Except for one more thing.

A small shard of luminous stone.

As soon as he found it, he knew what it was from. And it nearly broke him completely.

"No... no, taht cahnt be it, taht cahnt be it, tehr has tu be mohr. Tehy cahnt be gohn... tehy- tehy cahnt-"

He nearly choked on his own words, holding the shard close to his chest. Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to fall.

And fall they did.

He made no noise, though. Warriors are silent when they cry. They don't make it known and try to get attention. They don't cry in front of people. They keep it in until they're alone.

And he might as well be alone now, right?

"Link? You good?"

No.

He said nothing still. If he tried to speak, he'd make noise when he cried. And he didn't want them to know about that.

Warriors don't seek comfort when they're upset. They don't need it. Warriors are strong. Warriors get through it all.

Except whatever killed them, apparently.

His people, his family, his- his-

No.

Stop.

Stop it.

_ *You're going to make noise if you keep that up,* _ he told himself.  _ *They're going to know.* _

He didn't want them to know, they couldn't know, if they knew they'd see him as weak and he wasn't weak, he was a warrior, warriors aren't weak and they don't cry and when they do they don't make it known because if they do they'll be seen as weak which he  _ *wasn't-* _

"Link. It's okay."

He wanted so badly to say that it wasn't okay. That he wasn't fine, that this wasn't alright.

But he didn't. He kept his mouth shut.

He was afraid that if he opened it, he'd make a noise. And they'd know.

And at this point, he almost  _ *wanted* _ them to know. Then, maybe they could save him from this mess.

Eventually, he let out a sigh.

Someone kneeled down behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

And it reminded him of her.

Back at his  _ *real* _ home. The one that wasn't gone, buried deep beneath the dirt.

And he closed his eyes and imagined he was there.

\---

When Link pulled the final item from the dirt, he froze. A small choking sound was heard, but that was it.

After a few minutes, he sighed heavily and his shoulders slumped.

Wild stepped forward and crouched next to him and rubbed his shoulder.

A moment later, Link leaned into Wild. He turned slightly so that his face was on Wild's lap and he just started  _ *sobbing.* _

Wild seemed a bit taken aback by it. Almost like it had happened before.

But Wild just rubbed his back, humming a little.

Then Wild spotted a bit of rock(or whatever it was) in the dirt, tinted dark greenish.

Why was there luminous stone here? Sure, there was a lot in Faron, but why  _ *here?* _

And next to it was a small stone statue and a horn. He wasn't sure what the statue was of, and he wasn't sure what the horn was from, but he knew they must have important for Link to be this upset over them.

Link mumbled something incoherent, then sat up.

"A'm sri, taht wuz rood of meh tu du."

He stood up and brushed himself off before bending down and picking the items up off the ground. He stored them in a bag on his hip and looked at the group in front of him.

"Let's geh gon."

And with that, he turned away and walked off.

Next they went to Hateno. Link kept making comments about how "everything was so different" and "back home, this..."

It was honestly getting a little annoying.

They went up to Purah's lab, and she immediately began fawning over Link. She bombarded him with questions about the Sheikah tech and how it worked. His only answer was "A don' no."

Eventually, she gave up and began examining his Sheikah slate.

"So there are more of these?"

"Ye. Wut, didju tihn A wuz de anli wun wit wun?"

"Well, no, but yeah. The princess was the only person with a Sheikah slate on-"

At that point, Wild slapped his hand over Purah's mouth and laughed awkwardly. He hissed something in her ear and she sighed.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever, Linky."

"This is- oh, whatever."

Time laughed. "Why don't you two go relax for a bit? You seem awfully stressed."

Wild sighed and nodded. Link grunted and crossed his arms, but followed Wild as he left.

Once outside, Wild climbed up onto one of the rocks next to the lab. Link did the same, sitting on one of the smaller ones.

Wild smiled at the sight of a certain blue dragon in the distance.

"So tehy'r stil arun? Taht's at lees wun tihn taht hazn chanjd."

Wild looked at Link, a little surprised. "You see them too?"

"Wel, ye, ull Zonai du- wayt. Yu arn Zonai. An yu stil seehm?"

"Uh, yeah-"

Link stood up. "Onli Zonai see teh duraguns."

"Really? I thought-"

Link groaned. "Of curs yu toht somtin ron. Teh Zonai ar  _ *gon* _ nou. Nobodi rmimbrs us, hu?"

"Not that I know of-"

"Taht wuz ah retorhecal qwestyon."

Wild grunted and looked away.

Link sat back down, facing away from Wild. They spent a while like that before a head poked out of the door.

"Guys? Purah wants to see you, she has some more questions."

Link was already gone by the time the sentence was finished. But he didn't go back inside. He just walked away from the lab, his fists clenched.

So Wild was left to go back inside on his own.

"Where's the old hero, Linky?"

"I dunno. He just left. I'm not gonna go after him, though. Someone else can do that."

"Is something bothering you?"

He sighed and sat down on a bench. "Yeah, but it's not important."

There were two things bothering him.

1, what happened earlier, and 2, what Link said about only Zonai being able to see the dragons. Sure, it explained why the other Links couldn't see them, but it begged the question, why could  _ *he?* _

Like Link said, the Zonai were gone.

Maybe there was just more to it that he was missing. Maybe Link was wrong about  _ *only* _ Zonai seeing the dragons. Maybe-

"Wild? You okay?"

He looked up. Twilight was standing there, looking a little worried.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just... thinking."

"Ah. Just curious, you looked a little... stressed."

Why  _ *was* _ he stressed? It wasn't like it would be  _ *bad* _ if he was part Zonai or anything. Maybe he was just confused.

Yeah.

Because how would that even work? The Zonai blood would have to be incredibly thinned out by now.

That brought up yet another question- when  _ *did* _ the Zonai go extinct? Was extinct even the right word? What  _ *were* _ the Zonai? Were they just Hylian, but different? Or were they something else entirely?

Wild sighed. There was a lot to think about now. They had a new Link, and he was a completely different race than the rest of them. Not only that, but he was a crucial part of Wild's quest.

And now this Link was upset over what would happen to his people. Because he just so happened to be part of the one race that died out.

So that was super cool of the goddesses, huh? Very nice.

After a moment, Wild stood up.

"I should probably go check on him."

Twi pulled him back down. "Wars

already went to find him."

Wild nodded and begrudgingly sat back down.

Not even a minute later, the door opened up. Warriors led a roughed-up Link inside and sat him down across the table from Wild and Twilight.

Neither of them said anything, but Link looked quite upset.

Then, after a moment, Warriors wrapped his scarf around Link. The red-head seemed a little surprised at first, but he didn't fight against it. In fact, he seemed to like it.

Wind jumped up, smiling. "He's getting the scarf! What happened?"

Warriors shrugged. "That's not important."

"But it is! There are varying degrees of the scarf, ranging from stubbing your toe to..."

Wild chuckled as Wind went on about the scarf, describing each time he got it himself.

"Then there was one time where I woke up from a nightmare and Wars was already there with the scarf. Like, how'd he know about that? It's gotta be magic."

Wild laughed again. "I remember once I came out of a bad memory and he already had me wrapped up."

"Sohri, ah  _ *wut?* _ "

Oh. Shoot.

Of course the first thing Link said after coming back would be a question about the memories. Of course he had to let that slip.

"Um... nothing. It's nothing."

"No, A'm prey shr A herd yu sai somthin abou ah memri? Wut egsaktli du yu meen by taht?"

"It's nothing, really."

" _ *Rili* _ nou?"

"Yes-"

"Wild lost his memory!"

"Fucking- Wind!"

Wind just smiled at him for a moment before realizing what he just did.

"Oh. Did you not want him to..."

Wild stood up. "Did I not want him to know? No! I didn't want him to know! I don't want to alter history!"

"I mean, if I could prevent all that, I definitely would. I mean, who wants to die?"

_ *"WIND!!"* _

Wind laughed at Wild's obvious distress.

"Wind, c'mon, this is serious-"

"Yu  _ *dyd?* _ "

"I really don't want to mess things up too badly because I kinda like existing, and yes I died but that's not important right now. What  _ *is* _ important is that Wind almost maybe made me stop existing!"

"Hou wud tihs mayk yu stop egsistin?"

"I don't want you doing anything stupid because of something that idiot child over there said! And if you do something stupid then it might doom all of Hyrule because you don't understand how fucking  _ *important* _ you are to Hyrule's history."

Link laughed nervously. "A'm taht impotunt?"

"Yes! Yes you are!" Wild laughed. "You're fucking  _ *crucial.* _ The Sheikah?  _ *Crucial.* _ Everything is extremely important which is why I don't want to fuck anything up,  _ *Wind.* _ "

"Listen, I'm sorry," Wind said, putting his hands up in surrender. "But I'm not an idiot child. I'm an idiot fourteen year old."

Wild rolled his eyes with a groan and a smile. "Same difference." He looked back at Link. "Just... forget any of this happen. Kinda like I did." He knocked on his head like a door, smiling a little.

Purah giggled from over by the guidance stone.

"Oh. You're still here."

"Heh. Yeah, silly. I never left. The guidance stone isn't in a different room."

She hopped off the stool next to it and skipped over. She climbed onto the bench and handed the slate to Link.

"I looked at some of the stuff but I didn't change anything. Like Linky said, we don't wanna alter history." She giggled again. "Anyways, I think I might be able to come up with a new rune or two. And maybe this time it'll go better."

She gave Wild a smile, and he chuckled. "Yeah, really. I kind of like my age. Almost as much as my existence."

\---

Wild left his Sheikah slate with Purah and they went down to his house. He started cooking a meal for everyone with the cooking pot outside. At some point, Link came out and sat down with him.

"Hey. What's up?"

Link only shrugged. 

"Are you still upset about..."

"Noh. Noht at al, A'm perfektli fyn, notihns ron. Nohp."

"Mm. I take it those items are important to you?"

Link grunted, nodding a little.

"So what's the luminous stone for?"

Link sighed. "Notihn taht yud unrstan."

"I dunno, I-"

"Noht taht yur stoopyd. Tehrs jus taht tym difrins. An Zonai custums ahr probli priti difrint frohm... yurs."

Wild nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"A jus wish... A jus wis tehr wuz sumtihn A cud du. Am not nesesrli upsit abou ma famli been gohn, bcuz tehyd he gohn aniway biy nou. A ahm upsit abou hou de Zonai ahr gohn, toh."

"Yeah. I understand. I... I'd be pretty upset if that happened to me. Not that the Hylians would ever die out, there are so many-"

"Tehr wur ah lot uf Zonai, tu. An luk at wut hapnd."

There was a long pause.

Finally, after about a minute or so, Wild spoke.

"So, uh... do you have those huge skeletons lying around your Hyrule? I they're called... leviathans? I dunno."

"Skilatuns?"

"Oh, are they still around? Wouldn't they live in the water, though?"

"Wel, wi hav sum priti big bones lyn arund. Ad haf tu si yurs tu noh fur shur, toh."

Wild nodded. "I think I have some pictures. I could show you right now."

He took his Sheikah slate out and went to the photos. He then started flipping through them.

"Yur misin kwyt ah bit tehr. Tihs wun mustv bin a prodotiyp."

"You know a lot about Sheikah tech, huh?"

"Ye. A fynd it kwyt intristen."

Wild chuckled. "I think you'd get along well with my Zelda, then."

"Rili?"

"Yep. Oh look, the food's done! I'll have to show you the pictures later."

Link nodded, smiling. Wild quickly took the food out of the pot and brought it back inside, Link following closely behind.

Maybe the whole Zonai disappearance thing wouldn't bother him for too long. There was a lot here to check out. Ten thousand years could do a lot. Clearly.

Wild served everyone some food. It was delicious. The best thing Link had eaten in ages.

Almost as good at the cooking at home. Almost.

"Sou," Link began, "abou tohs pikturs..."

"Oh! Yeah!"

Wild quickly pulled out his Sheikah slate and found the pictures in question. He then held it up for everyone to see, smiling.

Yep. Definitely the same bones Link had seen, albeit more weathered and buried in the ground.

"Um, what are those?"

"They're leviathans. Basically, they were giant fish things."

"Oh! Like whales," the youngest boy piped up.

The guy with pink in his hair made a face before taking a rather large bite of food.

"What's wrong Legend? Ya scared of some bones?"

The man with a scarf elbowed the one who made a face.

"No. I just don't like big fish. I don't trust them."

"Actually," the youngest boy interjected, "whales aren't fish. They're ma-"

"I don't care what it is, it's a fish to me. Anyways, the food is good. That's all that's important."

As if to prove his point, the (partially)pink-haired man shoveled more food into his mouth.

That bit of the conversation ended there.

Link was still intrigued, though. 

"A noh ah bit abou tohs."

Wild immediately looked over to him, smiling. "Really?"

"Ye. Tehr ahr sum ledens abou tehm. Fur instins, tehrs an iylan-"

The pink man coughed. Link stopped for a moment to look at him, then shrugged and continued.

"Aniway, tehr wuz tihs iylan wer wun uf teehs fis fell aslyp-"

The pink man stood up. "Um, I'm gonna go check out the rest of town. Who wants to come with me?"

As soon as he said that, he practically flew out the door, not even bothering to wait for any replies.

There was about two minutes of silence before someone spoke up again.

"Well. Um... continue with the story."

Link nodded. "So aniway..."

\---

Legend grumbled to himself a little, walking along the small bridge that led to Wild's house.

That new Link didn't know what that "legend" was about. Or was it even about that? Did it just happen to have a similar premise?

Maybe.

But if it wasn't, and it was the same story, then how would anyone know about it in the first place?

He stopped at the weird block houses. Where was he even going to go? Maybe to one of the stores? But he was broke. Dammit, Ravio.

He sighed and continued walking.

He decided to go to the clothing shop and just look around. Then he went to the general store.

There really wasn't much here. Hateno was such a small village.

But the fact that there was more than one settlement made up for that. It was pretty different from what he was used to. Not that that was really saying anything. He wasn't really used to much.

He was getting kinda bored, so he headed back to the house. The new Link had to be done with his little story by now.

Speaking of him, that accent? Super annoying after a while. Half the time, Legend could barely understand what he was saying.

He sighed and opened the door. Now it was just Wild talking to the new Link. Probably about those damn giant fish.

Hey, at least Wild seemed to get along with this guy quite well. It was always nice to see Wild acting sane for once.


End file.
